Precipitation dropped sharply in the immediate Tracy area
during 1999.

The weather recording station at the Tracy water plant
logged 19.95 inches of moisture during the past year, In
1998, Tracy precipitation was 26.37 inches.

Most 1999 Tracy precipitation fell in April, May and June.
April showers brought 4.37 inches, followed by 3.09 inches in
May and 2.6 inches in June. July, often one of the year's
driest months, came through with 2.51 inches of
precipitation. 1999 snowfall totaled 26 inches.

Dry conditions have prevailed since autumn. October,
November and December have brought only a combined 1.03
inches of moisture.

Until last year, wet weather patterns prevailed during
much of the 1990s. The 1999 precipitation total is the lowest
for Tracy and the region since 1988 and 1989.

Annual precipitation totals recorded at the University of
Minnesota Southwest Research and Outreach Center near
Lamberton show 17.91 inches of moisture for 1988. The year
1989 brought 19.26 inches of precipitation. During the 1990s,
until 1999, the Lamberton station never logged an annual
precipitation totals of less than 24.36 inches. Annual
precipitation during the decade exceeded 30 inches four
times. In 1993, Lamberton received 40.79 inches of
precipitation.Headlight Herald - Serving
Tracy, Minnesota, since 1880

School is out forBonnie Ludeman
& Dennis Fultz

 Retiring Board of Education members served
since 1980s

When the District 417 school board holds its first
organizational meeting of the year 2000, two familiar faces
will be missing from the table.

Veteran school board members Bonnie Ludeman and Dennis
Fultz completed their final terms this month and say it's
time to move on  neither sought re-election in
November. Their combined years of service on the board add up
to nearly 30 years. Fultz has served on the Board of
Education since 1981; Ludeman since 1989.

As school board members, they've sat through countless
meetings, shuffled mountains of paper and made decisions
impacting thousands of students. They've welcomed new
administrators, wrestled with finances and helped usher in
the computer age in the classroom. During their tenures,
school populations have become more ethnically mixed.
Tele-media, open enrollment and post secondary enrollment
options have become facts of life.

  

Fultz remembers what prompted him to run for election
nearly 20 years ago.

My brother Eric was receiving a state FFA award, and
Jim Walker (superintendent at the time) was tapped to present
it at the state convention. I called to see if I could ride
along.

Fultz, a 1965 THS grad, says the two visited, and Walker
encouraged him to file for election. The year was 1981, the
same year Harold Remme moved to Tracy as the district's
superintendent after Walker accepted another position.

For Ludeman, the decision to run for a school board seat
evolved naturally.

I was involved as a volunteer at the elementary
school when my children reached school age. Then I served as
an officer of the PTC Club.

She mulled over her decision to run, and minutes before
the deadline in 1989, filed for a seat.

  

The two say their responsibility as school board members
was to set policy, not to become involved in the day-to-day
operations of the school.

We're not micro-managers. We're not involved in day
to day decisions, says Fultz.

The most important duty of the school board, both feel ,
is the ability to come together and render thoughtful, clear
and fair decisions that are in the best interests of District
417 students.

It's important to have a diversity of opinions
 that's the beauty of a board, says Fultz.
But as a board member you have to take an issue and
make it either black and white, even though it's gray.

If you come on with a burning passion, you find
yourself moderating, adds Ludeman, citing the reality
of laws and mandates as well as the importance of unity.

Fultz sees himself as a conceptual person. Ludeman, on the
other hand, describes herself as a detail person.
Though not with numbers. I'm also not a confrontational
person. Rather, she considers herself a peace-maker.
I want people to come together and reach a
consensus.

What's next? Both plan to take a year to catch their
breaths, but want to maintain some sort of connection with
the school.

I hope to take the time I spent at school-related
meetings and work in my home office during the next year. It
needs it! quips Fultz. But he adds, I'm going to
miss the people and the process.

Concludes Ludeman, I'd like to thank the school
community for their support through the years. I hope I've
made a difference.

Joyce St. Pierre has winning recipe
for 'Mystery Shopper Challenge'

Joyce St. Pierre has a thousand extra
reasons to smile this week. Who can blame her?

Tuesday, the Tracy womoan was presented
with a $1,000 check for winning a regional "Mystery
Shopper Challenge" sponsored by Orion Food Systems. St.
Pierre, Food Service Manager at Avanti Food-N-Fuel in Tracy,
was recognized for operating the best site among over 1,000
locations served by Orion.

"Our regional winners are clearly the
best in the nation for cleanliness, for product quality and
for service. You and your team members should be proud of
your score and proud of your commitment to quality and
service," stated Jeff Okerlund, Orion President, in a
letter to St. Pierre.

The Orion judging was based on a surprise
visit to the Tracy store in October from an Orion
"mystery shopper." The visitor evaluated the
Food-N-Fuel take-out food department on a wide-range of
criteria. The evaluation began with how cheerfully the
customer was greeted when they walked through the door. The
mystery shopper checked items such as the cleanliness of the
facility, the neatness of displays, quality and freshness of
food, freezer temperatures and product dating.

St. Pierre gives credit to the people she
works with. "I've got people who know how things need to
be done." The first thing she plans to do with the prize
money is take her food service employees out-to-dinner.

St. Pierre and the Tracy Food-N-Fuel are
now eligible for a national "Mystery Shopper
Challenge" competition worth $5,000.

Chamber honors businesses

The Tracy Chamber of Commerce's Board of Directors wrapped
up 1999 by recognizing several Tracy businesses: Nicole
Larson, CPA; Dueber's Variety Store and Enderson Clothing
were presented with "First Dollar" awards. Tracy
Ace Home Center was honored with a "Progress
Award."

Shetek freeze-upis second latestin past 30 years

This winter's freeze-up of Lake Shetek is the second
latest on record over the past 30 years.

According to records compiled by Ernie Surprenant, a
long-time cabin owner on Shetek, the lake was completely
frozen over on Dec. 17 of 1999. The only later freeze-up date
the Tracy man has recorded over the past three decades
occurred on Jan. 10 of 1981.

Surprenant has kept track of Shetek's ice-in and ice-out
dates since 1970. He began the activity as a hobby. But for
about the past 15 years, he has sent his dates to New York
University, where a professor is compiling data for a study
on global warming.

Surprenant has Shetek ice-in dates for every year except
1983.

"I can't find that. I must have slipped up that
year," he explains.

A check of Headlight-Herald weather records shows
that winter arrived early that year. November of 1983 brought
23.5 inches of snow in Tracy, meaning the Shetek also frozen
over early that year.

Surprenant defines the Shetek ice-in date as when he can
no longer see any open water. (An exception is made for the
open water around the Shetek aerator, which was installed in
1975).

Chamber sets 'Spring Expo'

The Tracy Area Chamber of Commerce plans a
'spring Expo,' March 18, from 9:30am to 6:30pm at the Tracy
Prairie Pavilion. The Spring Expo is a continuation of what
has been a two-day March 'Farm & Home Show' sponsored by
the Chamber.

"This name change allows the event to
be open to more venues such as home and self-improvement,
sports and recreation," explains Sara Kemp, Chamber
president. The new name also reflects changing times. Kemp
notes that some of the first Tracy shows were called
"Farm & Electric" shows, because the products
displayed had to use electricity.

This year's Spring Expo is scheduled on a
Saturday. Traditionally, the two-day show has been held on a
Tuesday and Wednesday. This will be the 32nd year for a
Chamber sponsored spring event.